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A piece of History gleaned from an Eye Hospital in Kodagu

However, what interested me was a couple of framed displays that seemed unique and modestly appropriate for a doctor who is a native Kodava and the hospital is in Kodagu.
I took the photographs of some of these displays to study them later. There was a photograph of a native Kodava of the early 20th century in his ethnic ceremonial attire (see picture). He is the grandfather of Dr. M.M. Ponnappa of Lopamudra Eye Care. He was honoured by the British Masters of the Colonial days with the title Rao Bahadur. So, he is Rao Bahadur Mukkatira Aiyappa. Could be, his grandson, this doctor Dr. M.M. Ponnappa, is so proud of his grandfather, he chose to honour his memory by hanging his photograph in the front office area.
And, again most appropriately, the legend of this legendary coffee planter and a philanthropist of those days (who had, no doubt, cultivated the company of the British Officers in Kodagu) as written in a newspaper was also displayed. The text details about the great gifts of this Kodava man. Curiously the news must have originated from Karachi (now in Pakistan) and taken from the newspaper ‘The Madras Mail’ (which was published by the British from Madras, now Chennai).
Reading its contents I was thrilled. Let me reproduce it:
The Madras Mail